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South Bay SDA Church

Esther

Jeremy Arnall

Behind The Scenes

Front porch, good morning, on the front porch of his little country store in Illinois, Abraham Lincoln and Barry, his partner, stood.

Business was all gone and Barry asked, how much longer can we keep this business going?

Lincoln answered, it looks as if our business is just about winked out.

Then he continued, you know, I wouldn't mind so much if I could just do what I want to do.

I wouldn't mind so much if we could just sell everything we've got and pay all our bills and just have enough left over to buy a little book called Blackstone's Commentary on English Law.

Shortly thereafter, a strange-looking wagon was coming up the road.

The driver angled it up close to the store porch and then looked at Lincoln and said, I'm trying to move my family out west.

I've got a good barrel here that I could sell for 50 cents." Abraham Lincoln's eyes went along the wagon and came to the wife looking at him pleadingly, face thin and emaciated.

Lincoln ran his hand into his pocket and he took out, according to him, the last 50 cents that he had.

And he said, I reckon I could use a good barrel.

All day long, the barrel sat on the front porch of that store.

Barry kept chiding Lincoln about that barrel.

Late in the evening, Lincoln walked out and looked down into that barrel.

He saw something in the bottom of it, papers strewn and so forth, and things that he hadn't noticed before.

His long arms went down into the barrel and as he fumbled around in the papers, he hit something solid.

He pulled out a book and, you're not gonna believe this, it was Blackstone's Commentary on English Law.

Lincoln later wrote, I stood there looking at holding the book and looking up toward the heavens there came a deep impression on me that God had something for me to do And He was showing me now that I had to get ready for it.

Martin Luther put it well when he wrote, God's wonderful works which happen daily are lightly esteemed.

Not because they are of no import, but because they happen so constantly and without interruption.

Man, Luther writes, is used to the miracle that God rules the world and upholds all creation.

And because things run, daily run their appointed course, it seems insignificant.

And no man thinks it worth his while to meditate upon it and to regard it as God's wonderful work.

And yet, it is a greater wonder than that Christ fed 5, 000 men and 5 loaves and made wine from water." The next several weeks we want to go through a series of studies all on a little book named Esther.

As we look at God's providence, which as you will consider that as we approach Thanksgiving, we would do well to consider his providence.

As we approach the new year, we should be comforted by the story of his providence.

Title of the message this morning is a behind-the-scenes look.

Dear Lord, please speak to our hearts this morning.

I pray that you hide me, that you clothe me with your glory, that that I might be but a nail to hold the picture of your beautiful face.

Please wash me, cleanse me, fill me that I might be a vessel for your glory.

I pray that your Holy Spirit will come and speak through me and speak to each heart and that in this place angels would attend and protect from all harm.

The world is convulsing under sin, but we thank you for this moment right here, right now, in this holy place and time.

And if you're at all familiar with the book, you might have asked at some point, how did it get here, right?

In some ways it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the canon, with the rest of Scripture, there is, of course, as you probably are familiar, no mention of God in the book.

There's not even a mention of his law in the book.

There's not a mention of his covenant with his people in this book.

So no mention of God, no mention of his law, no mention of his covenant.

There are apparent, I'm sorry, there are no apparent miracles, at least at first glance, in this book.

And for that matter, it really doesn't seem to possess any prominent religious elements except for the act of fasting, which we will later see.

The book isn't referenced by the writers of the New Testament nor by the early Church Fathers.

In fact, there was no Christian commentary on this book until 836 AD, as if no 1 knew what to do with it.

In fact, it is the only book of the Old Testament not found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So how does the seemingly secular book find its way into the holy canon of Scripture?

It is for this reason that I am thankful it did.

First, it's important that we note the historical context of the story of Esther.

This morning we will consider the first chapter of this short book.

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, This was the Ahasuerus who reigned over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.

In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan, the citadel, that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants.

The powers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes and the provinces being before him, when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, 180 days in all.

And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting 7 days for all the people who were present in Shushan, the citadel from great to small, in the court of the garden and of the king's palace.

There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars and the and the couches.

Couches were made of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble.

And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other with royal wine in abundance according to the generosity of the king.

In accordance with the law the drinking was not compulsory, excuse me, for So the king had ordered all the officers of his household that they should do according to each man's pleasure.

Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.

On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, i.e.

Drunk, he commanded Mahuman, Bista, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagatha, Zethar, and Carcas, 7 eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.

But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command, brought by his eunuchs.

Therefore the king was furious and his anger burdened with him.

Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times, for this was the king's manner toward all who knew law and justice, those closest to him being Karshina, Shethar, Admuthah, Tarshish, Merez, Marcina, and Mimucan, the 7, can you imagine naming your kid Mimoukine?

Anyway, the 7 princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king's presence and who ranked highest in the kingdom.

What shall we do to Queen Vashti according to law?

Because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought to her by the eunuchs.

Then Mimucan answered before the king and the princes, Queen Vashti has not only wronged the king, but also the princes and all the people who are in the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

For the queen's behavior will become known to all women So that they will despise their husbands in their eyes when they report King Ahasuerus has commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in before him, but she did not come.

This very day the noble ladies of Persia and media will say to all the king's officials that they have heard of the behavior of the queen.

Thus, there will be excessive contempt and wrath." Sounds like they're a bit scared, doesn't it?

If it pleases the king, let a royal decree go out from him and let it be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it will not be altered, that Vashti shall come no more before King Ahasuerus.

And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.

When the king's decree which he will make is proclaimed throughout all his empire for it is great all wives will honor their husbands both great and small and the reply please the king and the princess and the king did according to the word of Memechan.

Then he sent letters to all the king's provinces, to each province in its own script, and to every people in their own language, That each man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people.

The first character in our story is Ahasuerus, whose Greek name is Xerxes, the name most historians recognize.

And it says that it was in the third year of his reign that he held a lavish feast for 180 days.

Now whoever heard of a six-month party, right?

Perhaps a little historical background can help us.

The story fits historically between chapters 6 and 7 of Ezra.

And chapter 1 appears to have taken place around the year 483 to 482 BC.

Ahasuerus or Xerxes was the son of King Darius who was the son of King Cyrus.

Indeed a rather illustrious heritage you might say.

Xerxes' son was known as Artaxerxes, who was the king that would issue the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 457 BC.

Based on the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who was a contemporary of that time, this 180-day feast was to show his wealth and might to his princes and governors So as to solicit their support for the aid and planning for this campaign against the Greeks.

You see, it appears that he was seeking to avenge his father Darius' defeat at the hands of the Greeks in Marathon in 490 BC.

You see, that was the famous battle in which a man ran 26 miles and thus we call such races today marathons.

And so Xerxes launched a campaign against the Greeks after years of careful planning and preparation which evidently included this 180 day period.

Coincidence Or Providence

2 missionaries risked imprisonment by smuggling 300 Bibles into a nation with a government hostile to Christian witness.

They were able to evade the authorities and safely deliver their cargo.

Unfortunately, dropping off the Bibles created a whole new set of problems.

Their van had cleared a very low tunnel on the way into the country by a matter of just inches.

Only, you see, because of the weight of the Bibles, which were in the back of the van.

And they had compressed the suspension just a few inches.

Without the extra weight, you see, the van would now be too tall to make the clearing, but they trusted.

Missionaries were forced to stop at a checkpoint before reaching the tunnel.

Policemen there ordered the pair to transport 4 very large soldiers who needed a ride.

The weight of the soldiers, you guessed it, more than made up for the weight of those 300 Bibles.

And so, After dropping off their passengers, the missionaries drove their van home.

So that they could again smuggle more Bibles into the country.

Title of the message this morning is, Coincidence or Providence?

Lord, would you please speak to our hearts this morning that we would see Jesus.

We're going into a book within the Holy Canon, a book that doesn't even mention your name.

But Lord, we find comfort in this, for we believe that indeed your fingerprints are all over the book.

And it helps us to appreciate where we're at today.

So would you speak to us through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Give clarity and the presence of your Holy Spirit to each heart.

Last week, or 2 weeks ago, I should say, we took a look behind the scenes at the first chapter of Esther.

That's right, we're in a series on the book of Esther.

This, I believe it's 7 parts we will take in going through our book of Esther.

So we're taking our time because there's much here.

Last week in our look behind the scenes, we found luxury, we found power, but sadly no mention of God.

We learned how Xerxes, the Greek name for Ahasuerus, the son of Darius and the grandson of Cyrus, called for a six-month party, at which, at the conclusion it culminated in a seven-day feast, which then ended with an appeal by the king for the queen to come out and display her beauty, which she refused.

The king's advisors warned the king that such an act of disrespect could have a dreadful effect upon their own wives back home, that all the wives they surmised of the kingdom would rebel because when they heard what the king's wife did, well, don't expect it from me.

Thus, out of apparent fear and in an effort to maintain their authority at home, they suggested the king forbid Vashti, the queen, to ever appear before him again so that wives everywhere, all across the land, would honor their husbands, that each man, as the text says, may be master over his own household.

When you don't respect a woman, when you don't love her as God loves the church, then that is the kind of behavior of which 1 must resort, Or so they think.

For man-made regulations are used to try and enforce honor and respect, and don't think it just happens in the home.

Prophecy says it's about to happen again.

So while our story last week didn't mention God, we noted that his absence left us with a hollow tale filled with facades and man-made rules.

Thus we gathered hints of him even when he was left out of the story itself.

Last week, I mean 2 weeks ago, we set the stage.

Today, we meet the main characters in chapters 2 and 3.

Now, I'm just going to let you see that, well, I tell you what, I'm gonna ask Alistair to come up here.

Alistair, would you Read the word for us this morning.

You have to read the whole chapter, my friend.

After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done and what had been decreed against her.

Then the king's servants who attended him said, let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king, And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan, the citadel, into the women's quarters under the custody of Hegai, the king's eunuch, custodian of the women.

And let beauty preparations be given them.

Then let the young women who pleases the king be queen, instead be queen instead of Vashti.

This thing pleased the king and he did so.

In Shushan, the citadel, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jeor, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.

Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

And Mordecai had brought up Hadasa, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother.

The young woman was lovely and beautiful.

When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

So it was, when the king's command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the Citadel under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king's palace into the care of Hegai, the custodian of the women.

Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor.

So he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance.

Then 7 choice maidservants were provided for her from the king's palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women.

Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it.

And every day, Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women's quarters to learn of Esther's welfare and what was happening to her.

Each young woman's turn came to go into King Ahasuerus after she had completed 12 months preparation according to the regulations for the women.

For thus were the days of the preparation apportioned, 6 months with oil of myrrh, and 6 months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.

Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.

In the evening she went and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's eunuch who kept the concubines.

She would not go into the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name.

Now when the turn came for Esther, the daughter of Abahail, the uncle of Mordecai who had taken her as his daughter, to go into the king, she requested nothing but what Haggai the king's eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised.

And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.

So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus into his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins.

So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Ashti.

Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants, and He proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.

When virgins were gathered together a second time, Mordecai sat within the king's gate.

Now Esther had not revealed her family and her people just as Mordecai had charged her, for Esther obeyed the command of Mordecai as when she was brought up by him.

In those days, while Mordecai sat within the king's gate, 2 of the king's eunuchs, Bigfan and Teresh, doorkeepers, became furious and sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

So the matter became known to Mordecai, who told Queen Esther, and Esther informed the king in Mordecai's name.

And when an inquiry was made into the matter, it was confirmed, and both were hanged on a gallows, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king.

Chapter 2, you see, states that the king, after some time, came to his senses, and he regretted his decision regarding Vashti.

He missed her, but a law in Persia was not to be changed.

It reminds us of King Darius, doesn't it, in chapter 6 of Daniel, who under the influence of his so-called wise men had impulsively made a law based in part upon his ego.

You remember that no man or woman was to worship another entity but the king.

And yet, after he made the law, he too soon regretted it when the wise men used it to contend Daniel.

And well, in a similar vein, King Ahasuerus Xerxes is now regretting his decision for even though he no doubt had a harem of women he could call upon, lust and love are not the same thing.

And we would only surmise that to some degree he truly loved Vashti.

When his servants got wind of the king's remorse, they acted quickly upon it for they were they were fearful and they were afraid that he would try and reinstate Vashti and that it would most likely mean if he were to do so, their dismissal or worse yet, their execution.

So they come up with a plan of finding all the beautiful virgins in Persia for the king to review to see who might please him the most.

Well surprise, surprise, The king liked the idea.

Now between the six-month party of chapter 1 and the so-called beauty pageant of chapter 3, We have a time period of roughly 3 years.

And it was during this time that the ill-fated wars with Greece transpired, and Persian warriors came back with their tails between their legs, having lost 3 significant battles to Greece.

For Such A Time As This

It's been said that Christians without goals, you could say purpose, are like Alice in the fairy tale Alice in Wonderland, in which in a conversation between her and the Cheshire cat, Alice asked, would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?

Well, the cat replied, that depends a good deal on where you want to get to.

You know, COVID had its way with us as a nation, as a world, of course.

There was great loss, there was great suffering.

But as a culture, as a people, it had its interesting, sometimes unintended consequences, didn't it?

I was talking to a friend the other day, last weekend, and I inquired about a friend that we both shared.

And they said, you know, since COVID, I don't see him at church much anymore.

The dynamics of church, of the way we do business, work, it's all been greatly impacted, hasn't it?

And I guess in some ways, there's been some good that's perhaps come, but there's also been a lot of unfortunate consequences.

You would have thought that COVID would have helped us to regroup and solidify our purpose, right?

Well, We had plenty of time to think, didn't we?

This morning I want to talk to you about our purpose, your purpose, and why you exist at such a time as this.

There are a lot of distractions, I'll grant you, many distractions.

It's been said that when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's difficult to keep your mind on the fact that your primary objective is to drain the swamp.

We have many things coming our way, many things to distract us, many things to capture our attention.

But we have been placed here for such a time as this for a very specific purpose as a people.

And while we can chase rabbits all day, we must return and keep the main thing the main thing.

I'll share with you this quote from George Bernard Shaw.

He said the following, this is the true joy in life, that being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty 1.

You recognize yourself that this is a mighty purpose.

Then he says, the being thoroughly wore out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." End quote.

Title of the message this morning, for such a time as this, Let us pray.

We recognize this place as a holy space dedicated to you.

Would you in turn make us holy with your presence?

We ask, Lord, that You will hide me, that You would wash and fill me, that I might be a vessel by which Your glory could pour forth.

Lord, we all collectively would like to sit at Your feet.

And we're in the series on Esther, the book, and our first look at Esther a few weeks ago, we took note of God's providence.

We looked at chapter 1, and while the seemingly secular story said nothing about God and focused primarily upon the glory of Persia, we noted that there was still something to learn about God in Esther, that His providence can be seen when we look behind the scenes.

Some argue that Esther is the primary character of this book.

We noted how chapter 1 illustrated the vanity of this world, that while Ahasuerus seemingly had, or Xerxes, his Greek name, seemingly had all the wealth and the pleasures of this world at his disposal.

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